European stalemate over savings tax

Abstract

The implementation of the EU's savings tax project looks as far away as ever after October meetings between the Commission and the Swiss Ministry of Finance were unsuccessful. The Commission is battling to bring in the directive by the end of the year but the initiative has stalled because several member states have said that they will withdraw from the project unless third-party countries, including Switzerland, agree to equivalent measures. Failing to secure an agreement over the savings tax directive means that the other measures in the so-called Monti package will also fall by the wayside. These additional measures are a draft directive on cross-border royalties and withholding tax and a code of conduct for business taxation.